


Sunlight and self-acceptance

by itsmebeetch



Category: Original Work
Genre: Christianity, Crystals, Female Character of Color, Gardens & Gardening, Paganism, Self-Acceptance, Self-Reflection, Wicca
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26345266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmebeetch/pseuds/itsmebeetch
Summary: Just something I wrote a long time ago, and don't know what to do with. It's my first attempt at creative writing and I wouldn't mind some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism please 😊
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Sunlight and self-acceptance

I had been soaking up much of the morning sunlight at the breakfast table before Jet got my attention.

"Why don't you go get something for the tea, and I'll boil the water in the meantime," she suggested.

"Okay," I murmured. I got up from the table and made my way to the back door, but stopped mid step.

"Hey, Jet?"

She hummed in response, not turning from the sink.

"What's the theme for today?" I queried.

She closed the tap and thought for a bit before replying, "I'm thinking citrus. What do you think?"

"That's perfect," I smiled softly. "Thanks Jet."  
Always Jet, never Aunty Jet. She said 'Aunty' didn't feel like a title of respect the way some people said it was.

Stepping out the door and spotted the finches I had heard earlier flitting through the trailing sweet potato leaves. I rounded the corner towards the herb garden and marvelled at the dew drops on the lavender and rosemary. The smell of the two plants were calming and familiar, and brought with it the memory of when they were planted.

Jet and I had planted the garden the first summer I had come to her. You see, my parents had sent me to her for 2 weeks to help my mental health, and whenever I felt I needed to, I came back. I remember being reluctant at first, not wanting to spend that long a period of time with someone I didn't know. But when I saw Jet standing on the rose sheltered porch barefoot, with a dozen rings adorning her fingers, and then looked at myself with my wild curly hair and purple lipstick, I knew we would get along just fine. Most of the time I don't even want to go back to my conservative little neighbourhood. There were hoity toity Christian women around every corner, preaching about how ungodly I was, and that Jesus still loved me. It was good to get away every now and then, you know? 

Jet taught me so much more than school would have ever considered. Like which plant to use if you needed a pick-me-up, or if you needed good luck. Or which crystals to use to have a good meditation session. And she definitely made sure I knew which plants were poisonous. The point being; I could sooner write a book about plants, crystals and their uses than a history essay. 

*

I made my way through the garden picking herbs I thought would fit the days' theme. Lemon thyme and lemon balm were an obvious choice. Mint and rosemary were elected for flavour, and the nasturtium was just for fun. All of them went into the basket held in my hand.

The water had finished boiling by the time I had set the basket back on the breakfast table. Jet came to peek into the basket and smiled.

"An excellent selection madam," she said in a fake fancy voice. I snorted out a laugh and she cackled when she caught me roll my eyes. She got out her glass teapot, put all the plants in and covered them with the boiling water. We sat at the table, Jet sitting haphazardly to soak up the sun efficiently with her eyes closed while I sipped on my tea and looked at her. She probably felt me looking and opened her eyes, turning to me.

"Is there something in my hair again?" She said, patting down the length of her hair.

I giggled before saying, "No. Just thinking."

I hadn't meant to stare, but I was thinking about her and how abnormal she would seem in my neighbourhood. Even more than I was. We would make every person there lose their minds. There was silence again before Jet started talking

"You know, I have met very few people like you."  
She turned to me fully before continuing. "It reminds me of something I heard in a movie. It goes something like; All people have a coat around their souls. Some coats are silver, others gold: Pretty but fairly common. The most dangerous are coated in Mercury: pretty to look at but toxic if you get close enough."

Here she paused, a smile playing with the corners of her mouth. She turned back to the sunny window and let the smile take over.

"But every once in a while," she continued, " you'll find someone with the most beautiful, crystalline sheen. All the way through to the very core of their soul." 

She stopped quoting and warned, "And when you find that soul, you better hold on to it. You're one of them, so don't let anything change that." 

And I was completely speechless. But it didn't seem as though she was looking for a reply, so I sat and thought. I thought about all the times people told me I was different. I thought about how I had never gotten along with people my age. How I felt like an old woman and my peers would tell me I was boring. I had always thought myself an old soul; lived too many lives with more than its fair share of difficulties. And Jet noticed. She helped me realise it's okay to be different. 

I look back at that morning fondly and remember how the sun made her hair look almost gold and her brown skin shine bronze. She looked like a statue of a goddess that the Christian men in my neighbourhood hid from the women. And I thought: I don't need the please them. I don't have to dress like them. I don't have to straighten my hair. I don't need to be Christian. I never felt like I needed to do any of those things. So why start now?

**Author's Note:**

> So this is loosely based off of what I felt for a long time.I am the girl and Jet, but they are personifications of myself in different stages of my life.
> 
> I feel that I would have liked someone similar to Jet in my life, but I didn't have them. And so I became my own Jet
> 
> Self-acceptance is key in life my dudes👌
> 
> I hope you find your Jet, even if it's late in your life💖


End file.
